11 minute read
SHAUN RYDER
Pics: Paul Husband
Shaun Ryder has gone from being a heroin addict with a 20 year habit to a household name with a new CV that has seen him pop up on reality shows; He’s been in the jungle, has washed his face with urine in a bid to beat the ageing process, and most recently delivered a plate of ‘steak and veg anarchy’ as part of Celeb Cooking School. And watching him and his bandmate Bez on Celebrity Gogglebox is why we tune in. It might seem a strange turn of events, but then again, maybe not; he’s funny, open, engaging, and what he might say, ‘up for it.’ Shaun is what you call ‘the real deal.’ Ahead of his visit to Milton Keynes, he spoke with Pulse’s Sammy Jones.
Shaun with Bez and The Happy Mondays
As frontman with Manchester aces The Happy Mondays, he is a king of the so-called Madchester scene that he inhabits.
During the late 80s and early 90s they released some of the most recognisable musical moments from that scene; Step On, Hallelujah and Kinky Afro sound as fresh today as they did when they initially connected with ears.
Back then, controversy and bad press followed them around, but they knew what they were doing. As Shaun told me a few years back, ‘It’s not as if they crippled us. We understood the power of the press.’
Researching his current plans for our chat it seems that he’s bonkers busy with tv stuff, live shows, recordings and tours.
“I’ve got quite a lot on, but I find it a lot easier now, it doesn’t seem as hectic... maybe it’s because I’ve got a different sort of lifestyle and I’m not off my nut and partying any more,” he says.
“I’m 60 now and if I was still doing that stuff, the men in the white coats would be coming to take me away and lock me up. I enjoyed myself then, but I am enjoying myself just as much now as ever, really...and I still can’t remember it!” he laughs.
“I used to wonder why my memory was so bad, and then I got diagnosed with ADHD, so that explains a lot...”
Shaun’s health issues are well documented, and he takes it all in his stride, but actually that’s an unfortunate term, given some painful sounding episodes with his hip.
Having switched from a life of excess to a more stable time, Shaun used to enjoy long walks with his wife and their canine pal.
A great way to decompress and chill out. But that’s off the cards just now.
“My hip recently came out and I had to shove it back in,” he shares, which makes us go cold, “My false hip is a bit dodgy and then my other one is bone on bone and I’ve got to have another hip operation, so I can’t do the walking that I used to do and that really p****s me off.
“I’m not really supposed to go down low, and sometimes I’ll forget, and this time when I sat on something really low it came out with a big ‘boom’ and I thought, ‘I’m gonna have to shove this back in now.’ It was a bit painful. Now the wife has to go with the dog on her own.
“It’s like when I got the full body alopecia,” he says, continuing his run through of conditions, “My testosterone needed stopping for a while, because – and I get this wrong all the time – my red blood cells were doing something, so they had to stop my testosterone while they sorted that out and my body went into shock.
Then every hair on my body fell out, so I’ve got no eyelashes, no eyebrows and I look like Uncle Fester...”
Surely talking like that is a coping mechanism?
“What else can I do?” he answers, “I can’t go and have a hair transplant. You’ve just got to get on with it, ain’t ya? I know some people, especially actors and musicians, that if it happened to them they wouldn’t come out of the house, but you’ve just got to get on with it.
“Of course I’m p****d off because I ain’t got any eyelashes or any eyebrows, but because I’ve always had short skinheads anyway, apart from when it’s been long, my hair didn’t really bother me at all. I miss my beard,” he admits.
“The good news is I’ve started getting hair back on my head, very sporadic, but it’s coming back. I’ve got a couple of little hairs where my eyebrows should be, and a couple of hairs growing up my nostrils, and because I’m on my full whack of testosterone again now, maybe in a couple of years time I might be ready for a new rebirth...
“It’s like when I lost all my teeth through various crappy drugs; crystal meth and crack cocaine, and all my teeth fell out, didn’t they?” he laughs, “I’ve now got a brand new set of teeth all screwed into my bone in my mouth and I look great!”
In 2010 Shaun entered the jungle, one of the campmates in I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here. He lost out on the crown to Stacey Solomon. But he’s just been back, filming a special version of the show in South Africa, set to air in 2023. Or so the rumours say.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he says with a decidedly cryptic drawl.
“I didn’t want to go in 12 years ago, I really begrudgingly went in then – it was management’s idea to do it, but by the time we were all ready to come out, I didn’t want to. I wanted to stay in there like some mad Japanese soldier who was still in the jungle after the war ended!”
And creepy-crawlies don’t bug our Shaun: “The insects really don’t bother me – and when the snake bit me it was just like glass going in you, it was a similar feeling.
Shaun with fellow Black Grape member, Kermit
“My major worry about going in was meeting new people; was I going to be in there with a bunch of luvvies.
“I’ve always found it difficult coming up with meaningless chit chat. I’m not really good at that, but everyone was great – even Gillian McKeith, just great.”
Less than a week before we speak, Shaun was back on the stage at Manchester’s Factory 251, a venue located in the old home of the defunct Factory Records.
It was his first solo show in more than a decade, and an equally special night for fans and for the man they had come to see.
“It was great. It was really good,” he shares, and we can almost see him grinning at the other end of the phone, “We did the solo album, Visits From Future Technology, and then I brought Kermit in and we did some Black Grape tunes. I really, really enjoyed it.
“The older I’ve got the easier I’ve become in understanding myself and it’s got easier going on stage. I don’t need a s**t load of drugs to get me on there any more and so I actually enjoy it more than ever - apart from when we first started doing it and it was fantastic...” he recollects, “But then you do it for a few years and you go album, tour, album, tour, album, tour and totally f**k yourself up.
‘I enjoy it more now. I do a bit of telly and get on with the real job of making music. I’ve still got a career, so I’m very lucky.
“I didn’t grow up until I was 40! I was still living the same sort of life that I did when I started the band at 18. At 40, I just got fed up with it and sacked everything and I’ve been clean since, which is 20 years.”
After cleaning himself up and moving on, is it a bit frustrating to still be seen as the druggie pop star of the past?
“Not really...” he ponders, “I mean a bit, it’s just...,” he thinks on, “One of the main reasons for doing the TV stuff is that by the time me and Bez have finished the shows, the kids have downloaded your album and come and watch you at festivals or the gigs.
“It’s funny because I get loads of them offering me cocaine and wanting to come out partying with me, and I start scratching my bald head thinking, ‘Why do they wanna go out partying with a 60 year old bloke?”
But despite all the giggles and good stuff he gets up to on reality shows, as he just said, it’s all about the music, and there is plenty of new material on the horizon.
“I’m off to Spain to record the new Black Grape album, we might even do another Mondays album – I’ve always said, ‘Never say no.’
“I’ve gotta do this Black Grape album and I want to get another solo album done, so by 2024 we may be looking at a Mondays record,” he reveals.
Tragically, Shaun lost his brother, Happy Mondays bassist Paul earlier this year.
But a new record would cause more than a little stir with fans, for sure.
“I hope so.”
Shortly after our chat, Shaun will be debating the proposed reclassification of cannabis as a Class A drug in this country on Piers Morgan Uncensored, calling the proposals ‘ridiculous and draconian’.
Fans will be able to ask him more about that, about his new music, or anything else that takes their fancy, when Shaun visits MK11 in Milton Keynes for ‘An Evening with’ session.
He’s been doing these events for some time now, and the type of question is dependent on the town, seemingly.
“I’ll go to some places and all they’ll want to know about is drugs, and then I’ll go to some other place and if it’s full of Guardian readers they’ll want to talk about all sorts of different, interesting things...”
Shaun doesn’t go out to answer set questions, that’s for sure. Nothing is off limits.
“That’d bore me – I’d end up doing about 10 shows and then packing it in,” he admits, “These shows are uncensored, I just let the interviewer go wherever they want and then we throw it over to the audience so it doesn’t get boring.
“Sometimes it can get out of order, especially if you are in some mad places!
“A lot of my fans may be older, but they are still mentally 21, some of them,” he quips.
> An Evening with Shaun Ryder is at MK11 in Kiln Farm on Sunday, November 20. To book tickets visit skiddle.com
The countdown to Christmas has begun as Northamptonshire Health Charity launch their annual Christmas Gifts for Patients appeal. With your help, the charity can ensure that EVERY patient in local NHS hospitals receives a present on Christmas day.
The appeal began many years ago to support those patients, mostly elderly, who have nobody which means no visitors and no gifts. The overwhelming support from the local community and businesses means the charity usually receives enough donations to give gifts to all inpatients on the day. Typical items that are perfect for patients include toiletries, slippers and socks, dominoes, puzzle and colouring books, sweets and chocolates.
For infection control they must be new, in their original packaging, and not gift wrapped. There is an Amazon Wish List so if you would prefer to donate something from the list or make a donation online for the charity team to purchase gifts for you, the links are on their website at northamptonshirehealthcharity. co.uk/appeals/christmas-gifts-appeal/
You can drop your donations into the charity office at Springfield near the Main and A&E entrances to Northampton General Hospital, as well as at the Volunteers Desk at the South Entrance. At Kettering General, you can leave them with the reception at the Main Entrance or call the charity office on 01536 491569.
Trish Ribano, service manager at Welland Centre for Adult Mental Health in Kettering said, “We are so grateful for your support at Christmas. It makes our day when all the gifts arrive for us to give out as this can a very lonely and difficult time for patients.”
If you have any queries, you can contact the charity by emailing greenheart@nhcf.co.uk or calling the Northampton office on 01604 626927.
Let’s make sure no one in hospital is forgotten at Christmas.
Christmas Gifts for Patients
Visit our website to purchase a gift from our Amazon Wishlist or make a monetary donation and we will purchase a gift for you.
www.northamptonshire healthcharity.co.uk
greenheart@nhcf.co.uk
We can only accept new items in their original packaging. Unwrapped gifts only please.
